Notes- Early Hominids



Notes- Early Hominids

Important Paleoanthropologist to Remember:

Donald Johnson made one of the most exciting discoveries of early hominids in 1974. He was searching for artifacts in the hot African sun when he discovered a partial skeleton. After examining the piece of skull, jaw bone, rib and leg bones he realized he was looking at a hominid from nearly 3 million years ago. He called her Lucy, after the Beatles tune, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Australopithecus Afarensis

(Lucy and her relatives)

• Australopithecus is another name for southern apes

• By assembling Lucy’s bones scientists discovered what she may have looked like

• Lucy was short compared to people today. She was about 3 feet tall

• She had a mix of human and ape features

• Her arms were long but her hands and feet were about the same size as humans today

• She had a large head, and her forehead and jaw stuck out from her face

• Scientists believe Lucy and her relatives lived about 3 to 4 million years ago

• Most anthropologists believe Lucy was an early form of a human

• Lucy is believed to be biped, meaning she walked on 2 feet

• With her hands free she could gather and carry food more easily

• She could also better defend herself and her children

• Lucy’s brain was only about one third the size of ours

• Scientists have found no tools from her time and she was not believed to talk

Homo Habilis: The Handy Man

• The second group of hominids were discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey

• The bones they discovered in Africa along with artifacts that looked like tools

• Handy Man lived about 1.5 to 2 million years ago

• They had a combination of ape-like and human features

• They were also biped

• Because they found multiple sets of bones together they believe they lived in groups

• Living together would have helped them survive and gather food

• The Handy Man had a larger brain than Lucy

• This hominid used rocks as chopping tools and animal bones as digging sticks

• They also had the ability to learn and teach others

• The tools helped them take meat from dead animals and make traps for small animals

Homo Erectus: Upright Man

• Discovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891

• Found on the island of Java off the coast of Asia

• Found a skull and bones that showed that this hominid stood upright

• At this point Lucy and the Handy Man had not been discovered

• Upright Man is believed to have been around from 1.8 million to 200,000 B.C.E

• Scientist believe Upright Man migrated from Africa because similar remains have been found in Asia and Europe

• They were taller than the other hominids and were also believed to be better walkers and runners

• They looked more like humans but still had a large ridge above their eyes and a thicker jaw that stuck out

• Upright Man was a toolmaker

• They also had the ability to use fire because scientists have found burned animal bones near their remains

• Tools and teeth on Upright man show they ate more meat than earlier hominids

• They are also believed to have built huts and used fire to keep warm

• They also decorated their bodies with yellow-colored mud

Homo Sapiens: Neanderthals

• This hominid was known as Wise Man or Neanderthal

• Wise Man lived from 230,000 to 30,000 years ago

• Wise Man was shorter than humans but thicker and stronger than earlier hominids

• Wise Man had a much larger brain and used it

• More than 60 types of their tools have been found

• They used knives, scrappers and spears

• They also worked better together and they hunted as an organized group

• Wise Man is also believed to bury the dead and hold other ceremonies

• Wise Man is also believed to have taught his young

• They have also found remains of this hominid bones that had been broken and healed

• No one knows what happened to this group but some believe the individuals that survived helped the human species come about

Homo Sapiens: Early Modern Humans

• Found in 1879 when a young girl named Marie was exploring a cave with her father

• She found a room full of paintings believed to have been made by these early humans

• These people were known as Doubly Wise Man

• Believed to have existed from 35,000 to 12,000 B.C.E.

• Most believe they migrated from Africa to North and South America by land bridges that were later covered by water

• They looked more like us and used better tools

• Doubly Wise Man also wore more clothing

• They had high, rounded skulls, large brains, small teeth and slender bones

• They also built shelters of earth and stone

• They also used needles to sow animal skins for clothes

• They also used hooks and spears to catch fish

• Doubly Wise man was artistic and kept historical records

• They had the ability to dream, hope and express their feelings

• Also believed to have used language

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